Chapter 16 #2
I’m trembling. I’m starving for him. I’m one second away from grabbing his shirt and climbing him like a tree and begging him.
I’m in so much trouble for Finn Bennett. So much fucking trouble.
The morning is already warm when we walk down the street, sun streaking across the pavement in gold ribbons.
Finn’s got that look, the one that means he’s absolutely up to something and absolutely not going to warn me before he does it.
He slows in front of the motorcycle rental shop, and my heart stutters because there it is.
A sleek black bike, polished and growling even while it’s standing still.
We both love motorcycles, even if neither of us owns one. We’ve ridden on friends’ bikes before, but this one? This one is ours for the day, and every inch of it screams fun we probably shouldn’t be having.
“Wait here,” Finn says, eyes sparkling like he’s about to commit a felony-level surprise.
I lean against the railing outside, watching him push open the glass door and step inside. Through the window, I catch flashes of him talking to the clerk. Finn’s hands move as he gestures toward the bike, the clerk nodding, laughing at something he says.
They move around the shop together, Finn pointing at helmets, then slinging a backpack over his shoulder to test the fit. He signs a form, glances back at me through the window, and winks. My stomach drops straight through me.
A minute later, the door swings open, and he walks out loaded like a man on a mission with two helmets hooked at his fingertips, two backpacks strapped together, and a small cooler bag swinging casually from his hand.
“Got everything we need,” he says, smug as hell.
Yeah. He really, truly does.
“This is going to be fun,” I say, my heart already racing with excitement.
He tosses me a helmet with a grin. “All-day adventure. Swimsuit, sneakers, and a beautiful scenic ride.”
I laugh. “When did you plan this?”
“Cal helped me set it up,” he says, adjusting the strap under my chin before he tucks the cooler and extra backpack in the saddle bag and slides a leg over the bike.
I climb on behind him, my legs wrapping around his waist. The engine roars to life, the sound thunderous and thrilling.
The wind whips against us as we ride down the coast, the ocean glittering like it’s showing off to the right of us.
The smell of salt and the heat of summer fills my lungs, and for a moment, I can’t tell if it’s the ride or him that makes my pulse race.
Either way, I’m at total peace right now.
By the time we reach Hidden Cove, my cheeks are flushed and my hair’s wild under the helmet. And just like I hoped, the place is completely empty.
I swing off the bike and take it in. The cliffs curve around the water like a secret. The sun hits the ocean and turns it into a sheet of glitter. I feel the grin pull at my mouth before I even realize I’m smiling.
“I love Hidden Cove,” I tell him, almost breathless.
He looks at me like he already knew I’d say that. “I know,” he says softly, and there’s a spark in his eyes that makes my stomach dip.
We hike in, about a mile, our backpacks bouncing against us, the sound of the ocean fading into the sound of rushing water. And then the trees open up, and the waterfall is there, tumbling into a crystal-blue pool, sunbeams cutting through the mist.
I drop my backpack with a little laugh. “It’s perfect.”
He drops his too, and his gaze lingers on me as I strip down to my black halter top bikini that makes my boobs look amazing.
The way his jaw tightens when I peel off my shirt should not feel this good.
He strips down to his swim trunks, all muscle and tanned skin, and I suddenly forget how to breathe.
The water is shockingly cold at first, but then it’s just good. I wade deeper until the waterfall mist kisses my shoulders. Finn’s already behind me, hands sliding around my waist, pulling me against his chest.
“God, you feel so good,” he murmurs against my ear, voice low and rough.
I laugh softly, tilting my head back against him. “You do, too.”
He presses his mouth to my shoulder, the scrape of his teeth making me shiver. The waterfall pounds around us, loud and steady, but his breath against my skin is louder somehow.
When he turns me to face him, I can barely think.
He kisses me like he’s been waiting all morning, deep and greedy, one hand sliding up the back of my neck, the other gripping my hip under the water.
My fingers curl against his wet skin, and everything else just falls away, the world, the sound of the water, even my own heartbeat.
“Rowan,” Finn groans against my mouth, and my knees actually go weak, not in a soft, swoony way, but in a holy-hell-I-might-climb-him way.
His hands slide lower, rough palms skimming my soaked skin, and every place he touches sparks like it’s wired straight to my pulse. The water pounding around us is freezing, but somehow, I’m burning everywhere he touches, everywhere he hasn’t touched yet, everywhere I’m desperate for him to touch.
He presses me back against the slick rock beneath the waterfall, crowding in close, the heat of his body cutting through the chill like he’s my only source of warmth. His mouth drags down my throat, open and hungry, and my breath breaks apart.
God, I want him. I want him so badly I feel a little feral.
The way he looks at me here, wild, unguarded, like he’s been starving for me hits me hard enough that my whole body trembles. Something sharp and reckless twists deep in my stomach, and I can’t tell if it’s lust or longing or both tangled together until I’m barely breathing.
“I’m on the pill,” I manage, my voice shaking. “And I haven’t been with anyone. I got checked.”
He lifts his head, eyes blown wide, pupils dark as midnight. “I want you,” he says, voice thick with heat. His mouth curves into a wicked, possessive grin.
Oh God. A pulse of want crashes through me so fast I have to grip his shoulders just to stay upright. I want it too, not just the physical part, not just the feel of him thick and hard filling me without anything between us, but the meaning underneath it.
The closeness, intimacy, and trust that I have with Finn. It scares the hell out of me.
But it also makes me feel alive in a way I haven’t felt in years.
“The way you’re looking at me right now,” I whisper because I can’t hold it in, “it’s… so good.”
His gaze drags over me, slow and reverent and filthy all at once.
“You’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted,” he says, and my heart slams hard enough I swear I feel it aching heat between my legs.
My body reacts before my brain catches up, pressing closer, tilting into him, like his gravity is stronger than mine. I’m trembling, shivering, trying to steady my breathing, but it’s completely useless. I’m unraveling in his hands, in his mouth, in the heat of him pressed against the cold water.
“This feels…” I swallow, unable to finish the sentence.
“Right,” he murmurs against my skin. “It feels right.”
And it does. So right I’m ready to take every inch of him, every piece of him, every reckless, breathless second we’re about to fall into together.
I gasp as he lifts me against the rock, water dripping down my hair, his hands steady and sure. I wrap my legs around his waist, and he laughs low against my jaw, that rough, dirty laugh that melts every defense I’ve ever had.
The kiss that follows isn’t careful. It’s hungry and it’s everything. His hands roam, my nails dig into his shoulders, the waterfall pounding against us like it’s trying to drown out the sound of how badly we both want this.
He whispers things against my ear that make me tremble, soft filth and promise tangled together.
I answer with a whimper he swallows with his mouth, his hips pressing in closer, everything slick and hot and overwhelming.
I pull off my bottoms and untie my top and toss them on a rock behind me.
I don’t care if anyone comes down here, I need this with Finn. Right now.
He grins and slides off his trunks and throws them on top of my swimsuit and melts into me, kissing me, taking his time on each of my breasts as I fist his hair and moan.
When we finally give in, it happens the only way it ever could with Finn.
With the waterfall crashing around us and the sunlight slipping through the trees.
With his hands gripping my hips, his forehead pressed to mine, and our breaths tangling in the cold mist.
The moment he pushes into me, slowly and deep, my breath shatters. Every nerve lights up and every part of me opens to him. Finn groans like he’s been waiting his whole life for this. And God… it feels like I have too.
I cling to his shoulders, nails dragging across his wet skin as he thrusts up into me, steady and strong, the kind of rhythm that steals thought and replaces it with pure sensation. Water rushes over us, soaking our bodies, mixing cool droplets with the blistering heat of his mouth on my neck.
“Rowan,” he whispers against my ear, voice breaking. “I’m yours. I’m so fucking yours.”
My hips meet his, desperate and unrestrained, and the sound that leaves me is nothing soft or pretty. I don’t care. There’s no holding back now. No pretending we’re casual. No pretending this is temporary.
Every movement pulls us closer, deeper, tighter like we’re trying to fuse, like our bodies have been waiting for this one impossible moment under a wild cascade in the middle of nowhere. He kisses me like he can’t get close enough, like he’ll drown if he doesn’t breathe me in between every thrust.
I gasp his name, and he tightens his grip on my waist, anchoring me, guiding me, worshiping me with every shift of his hips. My head falls back, the spray of the waterfall hitting my face as pleasure coils low and hard inside me.
“I can’t— Finn, I can’t—”
“Let go.” His voice is a growl against my throat. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, baby.”
I fall apart in his arms, trembling around him, crying out into the roar of the waterfall as he holds me through every shaking second.
He follows moments later, burying his face in my neck, his body shuddering against mine, his breath coming in ragged, uneven gasps.
He whispers my name again like a prayer. Like a promise. And something inside me breaks open in the best way possible.
Because this…This isn’t a vacation fling. This isn’t “whatever happens in Coconut Beach stays in Coconut Beach.” This is forever, whether I’m ready or not.
The waterfall still thunders behind us, steady and loud, but everything else feels impossibly calm now.
The sun filters through the trees, warming my damp skin as I stretch out on the smooth rock at the bottom edge of the falls. My limbs feel heavy, boneless, blissfully spent.
Finn lies beside me, water droplets still clinging to his shoulders, one arm draped lazily across his stomach, but the other reaches for me, fingers brushing mine like he can’t stop touching me, even now. Even after everything we just did.
I turn my head toward him. His eyes are closed, lips soft with a tired, satisfied smile.
And when he threads his fingers through mine, something in my chest softens and tightens all at once.
I’m ruined. He said it. I tried to deny it. But lying here with him, skin warm from the sun and heart pounding from something deeper than sex…I know it’s true.
Finn Bennett ruined me for anyone else. And I’m not sure I want to be saved.
We’re both still a little breathless, our laughter spilling into the open air in soft, uneven bursts. My hair’s plastered to my shoulders, water trickling down my neck, and I’ve never felt more alive.
“This place,” I murmur, staring up at the sky through the branches, “is magic.”
Finn turns his head toward me, that slow, satisfied grin spreading across his face. “Or maybe it’s just you.”
I snort out a laugh. “Please. You’re drunk on waterfall sex.”
He chuckles, deep and warm. “Yeah, and it’s the best damn hangover I’ve ever had.”
I turn my head too, and there it is, that look in his eyes again. The one that makes my stomach flip. Like he’s already memorizing this moment. Like he doesn’t plan on letting it go.
“You ever notice,” he says softly, “how everything feels lighter when it’s just us?”
My heart stutters a little. “Yeah.”
His fingers slide over mine fully now, our palms pressed together on the sun-warmed rock. “We don’t have to over complicate this, Row. Life’s short. And messy. And we only get one shot at it.”
“Finn—”
“I’m serious,” he says, shifting closer, his voice dipping low but steady. “We could keep dancing around this thing forever. Or we could just… choose it. Choose us. No promises of perfection. Just real. Me and you, and whatever comes our way.”
I stare at him, and something tightens in my chest in that way it only does with him. This is Finn. My best friend. The one person who’s seen me at my worst and still stayed. And he’s being vulnerable right now.
“You make it sound so simple,” I whisper.
“Maybe it is.” He grins. “Besides, I’ve already proven I can handle you in a black bikini and a waterfall. I feel like that earns me some points.”
Something in me melts. I can feel it.
I curl into him, resting my head against his chest. His heart beats steadily beneath my ear, grounding me. I can feel the sun warming our skin, the wind tugging at my hair, the quiet heartbeat of the cove holding us in this perfect bubble.
“Finn,” I murmur.
“Yeah?”
“If we were back in Wisteria Cove… if this wasn’t just a trip…” I hesitate, but the words come anyway. “Would you still feel like this?”
He doesn’t even hesitate. “Rowan, I’ve wanted this for years. The trip just gave me an excuse to stop pretending.”
The breath leaves my lungs in one sharp rush.
He tilts my chin up and kisses me like it’s a promise. A slow, deep, honey-sweet kind of kiss that makes everything else fade out.
I kiss him back, fingers tangling in his wet hair, my chest aching in the best, scariest way.
When we finally break apart, his thumb brushes over my cheekbone, and he murmurs, “We’ll figure it out. Whatever this turns into. Just… let it happen, okay?”
And for the first time in a long time, I let myself believe him.
I curl back against him, the water lapping softly at the rocks. The cove is quiet, hidden, holding us like a secret. And it’s terrifying how good it feels to think that maybe—just maybe—this doesn’t have to end here. It’s just the beginning.